Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Wednesday's A** Wipes

"‘When we thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have’" by Matt Viser Globe Staff May 17, 2017

President Trump asked former FBI director James Comey in February to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to media reports Tuesday that cited Comey’s notes about the conversation. The news fanned allegations that the president improperly tried to stop the probe into his campaign’s ties to Russia.I'm done with Flynn. There is nothing there.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Comey, according to a New York Times report based on a memo Comey wrote immediately after his meeting.So says Comey, who apparently is a leaker to the New York Times based on this report.

The report came as the White House was already reeling from the disclosure that Trump disclosed classified information about terrorist plots to Russian officials who visited the Oval Office last week. It emerged Tuesday that Israel had reportedly provided the United States with the sensitive intelligence about an Islamic State plot, with the belief the information would be kept secret.

Together the events added to the crisis atmosphere surrounding the White House. The current siege of damaging news began last week, when Trump suddenly fired Comey, sending shock waves through Washington and among his own Republican allies in Congress....Yeah, and we know who is creating such conditions.... and why!

"As Russia allegations mount, is this the final straw for the GOP?" by Annie Linskey Globe Staff May 17, 2017

WASHINGTON — Key Senate Republicans began edging away from him on Tuesday, but Senator Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said, “The burden is on The New York Times” to produce the memo, although other media sources confirmed the contents of it.When liars confirm other liars what does that mean?

For Republicans earlier in the day, there was a sense in the Senate that the talking points coming from the White House were shifting — and that if senators went out on a limb to defend Trump, the president might just saw off the branch. Plus, there was a growing consensus that the perpetual state of crisis in Washington would not abate anytime soon.

That meant there were suddenly more quips from Republicans on Capitol Hill about Trump than compliments. There were more sighs. More nervous laughs. Republican senators were, however, starting to lose patience with Trump.He has obviously stepped on some very powerful toes behind the scenes for this flare-up.

Then Tuesday morning, Trump himself took to Twitter to undercut those denials. “As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.He's right, and I absolutely endorse him using Twitter. It is his only way of rising above the crap media megaphone to speak directly to the people.

General H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, embraced the new line on Tuesday morning saying that it was “wholly appropriate” for Trump to share intelligence with the Russians, but senators on the Hill, whiplashed by the various explanations, tended to disagree that sharing secret intelligence with the Russians was a good idea. “The disclosure of highly classified information has the potential to jeopardize sources and to discourage our allies from sharing future information vital to our security,” said Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican.

Others looked beyond the current crisis and mused that a staff shake-up might calm the waters at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Such a change has been rumored for the past week. White House press secretary Sean Spicer and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are frequently discussed as staffers in danger of getting axed.They can join Comey at the bar.

Published reports also said Tuesday that Trump finds General McMaster to be “a pain,” but any whiff of tension between McMaster and Trump would cause more headaches for the White House on the Hill, since the general is extremely well respected among the Republican senators who are going wobbly on Trump....Yup, can't get rid of the neocon general that is head of the NSC (why do you think Flynn was ridden out of town?)

"Michael Moore is making a documentary about President Trump and says the president should be worried. Producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein announced Tuesday that they have secured worldwide rights to the film, which Moore had dubbed ‘‘Fahrenheit 11/9.’’ The name is taken from the day after the Nov. 8 election when Trump was declared the president-elect and is a reference to Moore’s 2004 President George W. Bush documentary ‘‘Fahrenheit 9/11.’’ Moore has been secretly working on the film for months and promises it will be explosive (AP)."He predicted a Trump win with his other movie, and let's see if he unearths and Jewi$h mafia casino connections or whether it is all diversionary and demonizing stuff like against the Saudis in the other movie (of course, if he were to do an actual expose on anything, he would no longer be Michael Moore with a megaphone. He would just be plain old Mike Moore again).

"The world is a small place. Steven Tyler and the new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, bumped into each other on Monday at the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem. The Aerosmith frontman was in the area for a concert Wednesday in Tel Aviv. Friedman said he had just arrived from the airport and had come straight there to pray, according to the Times of Israel. He later said he prayed for President Trump on the eve of his upcoming overseas trip. The two had a brief conversation, and shortly after, Friedman visited with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to Haaretz, thanked him for visiting the Western Wall. “It was a powerful gesture of solidarity,” said Netanyahu. Friedman, who was Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer and friend, was a controversial pick for the post, in part because he’s an opponent of Palestinian statehood and a supporter of Israeli settlements."It was the Western Wall remark that set all this off, and I never cared much for Aerosmith's music. Friend of mine saw 'em in the early 1980s and Tyler was so drunk he couldn't even stand up, much less sing (sucky voice any, imho).

"The allegations are a ‘‘new Hollywood plot’’ to justify US intervention in Syria, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said, noting what it called a US record of using false claims as a pretext for military aggression. The allegation comes as the Trump administration weighs its options in Syria. The accusations cast a shadow over Syria peace talks Tuesday in Geneva...."

Ooooh, the scurrilous claims against Syria were to sabotage peace, 'eh?Remember a couple months ago when they were hollering about a slaughterhouse? It's warmed over beans, folks. Amnesty just another agenda-pushing jhuman rights front.

Authorities used trained scent dogs to search the area near Maplegate Country Club in Franklin on Tuesday as they continued looking for a Duke University student who was last seen leaving a friend’s house early Sunday.

Michael Doherty, 20, failed to return home after attending a gathering on Phyllis Lane on Sunday, Franklin police said. The department, along with other law enforcement agencies, on Monday searched swampy areas near Phyllis Lane without locating Doherty.

However, Deputy Police Chief James Mill said searchers recovered a shirt and a sneaker that belonged to Doherty on one side of Oak Street Extension, Mill said. The other sneaker was found a few hundred yards away by State Police.

Doherty’s parents, who reported him missing early Sunday afternoon, have been present at the search every day, Mill said. Police have interviewed 20 to 30 people who attended the Sunday gathering to piece together a timeline, he said....

"Cambridge startup Synlogic to go public through reverse merger" by Robert Weisman Globe Staff May 16, 2017

Two-year-old Cambridge startup Synlogic Inc., which is synthetically engineering microbes into disease-fighting drugs, said Tuesday that it has struck an unusual deal to allow it to go public this summer through a reverse merger with a Texas shell company.

Under the terms, Synlogic will merge with a wholly owned subsidiary of Austin-based Mirna Therapeutics Inc. in an all-stock transaction. Mirna currently has no products, but it has a stock symbol — MIRN — that will be acquired by Synlogic, enabling the Cambridge company to raise money on the capital markets without going through an initial public offering.

Synlogic, which will be the surviving company in the deal, will then change the stock symbol. It expects to begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange in August or September.

“We thought this was the most efficient way to generate funds to get us to the clinic,” said Synlogic chief executive Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos. He said the company plans to begin human clinical trials in mid-year of its lead experimental drug, which treats two rare metabolic disorders that cause elevated levels of ammonia in patients.

Synlogic, which has about 40 employees working in a former Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. building in the Cambridgeport neighborhood, wants to become the leading developer of drugs that harness the microbiome, a vast collection of microbes in the gut that break down food and protect people against diseases....

"Starbucks Corp., the world’s biggest coffee-shop chain, suffered crashes at some of its payment systems following a routine technology update. The problems struck cafes in North America, preventing an unspecified number of registers from working, according to company spokesman Reggie Borges. The glitch hit at a time when Starbucks’ payment technology is facing more scrutiny. Its mobile-ordering systems have caused congestion at pickup counters, irking customers and weighing on sales. In some ways, the technology is a victim of its own success. Starbucks’ smartphone app has become increasingly popular: At some of its busiest US locations, the mobile order-and-pay system handles at least 20 percent of transactions."So that is why there is a line!

A New York woman has sued Target after one of its 2-ton red balls rolled into her driver’s side door. Eileen Grady claims in her lawsuit that the company ‘‘knew or should have known’’ the concrete balls would come loose and create a hazard...."

"A weak outlook overshadowed strong quarterly profit at TJX, a key indicator of a retailer’s health for industry analysts. Profit during the first quarter rose. Revenue rose, but was short of analyst expectations. Since the recession, TJX has been able to draw shoppers away from malls and into its stores as it rapidly expands and offers the goods that people want. It now has more than 3,800 stores with annual sales of $33.1 billion. Six years ago, it had 1,000 fewer stores and $21.9 billion in sales...."I was told they were looking pretty phat.

"Officials say the Amazon’s streaming software TVs have better hardware for reliable streaming and aren’t designed for casual viewers who buy TVs only to never hook them up to the Internet. While Samsung and LG are still developing their own smart TV systems, many other manufacturers have abandoned in-house efforts and are turning instead to streaming TV companies such as Roku, and now Amazon...."

"McDonald’s on Tuesday pulled a British television ad that was accused of using child bereavement to sell fast food. The ad, which began airing last week, shows a boy talking to his mother about his late father and wondering what they had in common. They go to a McDonald’s where the boy orders a Filet-o-Fish and the mother says, ‘‘That was your dad’s favorite too.’’ Bereavement charity Grief Encounter said it had received ‘‘countless calls’’ complaining about the ad."

That's almost as bad as the Palestinian Pizza Hut.It's that time of day, but maybe I'll skip it in solidarity.

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